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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29400726">Miracles Happen Twice</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunahras/pseuds/Lunahras'>Lunahras</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>LEGO Monkie Kid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Twins, Children, Fluff, Misuse of Mystical Powers, Monkey King has Two Successors, Other, Parent-Child Relationship, dont follow strangers to their homes kids, implied child neglect, macaque tries to be evil, might become shadowpeach but for now untagged, no matter how cool they seem, other characters will be added later - Freeform, really he does, wukong has no idea whats going on</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:47:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,553</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29400726</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunahras/pseuds/Lunahras</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“What do you mean there’s two of them?!”</p><p>“Exactly what I said, you moron. How do you not know there’s two of them, they’re YOUR successors!”</p><p>-</p><p>Wukong’s heir ends up being chosen without his input, and without a Monkey King to guide them, Macaque ends up stumbling across them instead. </p><p>Congratulations, they’re twins.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Liù ěr Míhóu | Six-eared Macaque &amp; Qi Xiaotian | MK, Liù ěr Míhóu | Six-eared Macaque &amp; Qi Xiaoxia, Qi Xiaotian | MK &amp; Original Character, Qi Xiaotian | MK &amp; Qi Xiaoxia, Qi Xiaotian | MK &amp; Sūn Wùkōng | Monkey King</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Like Moths to a Flame</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Macaque didn’t usually linger this close to Flower Fruit Mountain or the Demon Bull Tomb, as people had taken to calling it nowadays, much to the chagrin of the Bull’s wife and son. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d be the first to admit that he harbored a bit of an obsession for the Monkey King, but even he knew loitering so close to the mountain was just asking for trouble. Nevertheless, he found himself in this colorful human city regardless, much like a hundred other demons.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was hard to resist the pull of power.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could still taste it in the air, an energy familiar and foreign all at once, and overall intoxicating. There were still echoes of the beacon that had shot from this city into the sky just a few weeks ago, golden wisps of power floating in the air, like a scattered scent. And of course, the feeling was stronger the closer you got to the Monkey King’s staff, still somehow embedded into a buried hill, never ceasing its duty as lock and guard of a prison built on irony.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Something</span>
  </em>
  <span> had happened here, something big, something important. But for the undead life of him, he could not figure out </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Any scents that may have remained were overpowered by the smell of ozone and </span>
  <em>
    <span>monkey</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so Macaque, like a hundred other demons, prowled the moonlit streets of the city in search for something he didn’t know, hungering. Like moths to a flame.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Being this close to the Sun Wukong’s home was nerve wracking, but his curiosity, his hunger, was stronger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A cry snapped him out of his thoughts and his attention wandered over to a dimly lit alley. Well, not like he had anything better to do right this moment. With unhurried steps he approached the mouth of the alley until he could make out the scene playing out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two human children, and a demon blocking the entrance, holding one of their arms. An everyday scene really.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Except.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Except this alley, for some reason, felt exactly like the vault over the staff: golden, staticky, </span>
  <em>
    <span>concentrated</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque dismissed the demon at a glance, nothing special there, and focused more intently on the cowering children. They were entirely identical, even down to their clothing. Small. Weak. But when he looked deeper, he saw the same core of unmoving mountain and raging fire that characterized his fellow stone monkey.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>These two frail, human boys felt just like Sun Wukong.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before the insignificant demon in the alley could even begin to react, he jumped up and stomped right on its head, smashing it into the ground as he took its place. The children looked on in a mixture of relief and numb shock, sending borderline concerned glances at the unmoving demon beneath his feet. He deigned to look down. Eh, it was still alive. Probably.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, the two kids seemed to finally take him in and- </span>
  <em>
    <span>squealed?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ohhhhhh myyyyyy staaaaaaars!!!” one of them screeched while the other just watched him in something uncomfortably close to adoration.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Um.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What the fuck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The second one opened its mouth and- “Are you the Monkey King?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque facepalmed, feeling a headache building in the back of his head. He took a deep breath and let it out, pointedly relaxing his shoulders and softening his expression before he uncovered it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hah, nah. I get that a lot though.” his eye twitched irritatedly when the boys slumped in obvious disappointment and he had to actively stop himself from strangling their scrawny little necks, “Wow, I can feel the gratitude already.” he muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That seemed to snap them out of their morose grumbling as they seemed to remember their current situation, “Oh! Sorry! Thank you so much for helping us! That guy was trying really hard to eat us!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The second one nodded frantically, “Yeah! Though maybe he had really bad teeth, cause he hurt  himself trying to bite my arm.” he put forward his entirely unmarked arm in consternation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, that ruled out plan A. Dammit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So who are you, mister? I’m Qi Xiaotian and that’s Xiaoxia!” the first boy, Xiaotian, interjected and the two of them stared at him with expectant grins.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, Macaque was nothing if not a good actor. He’d get in their good graces for now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smiled, consciously toning down its usual razor sharp edge, and crouched down to their level “I’m the Six-Eared Macaque, Macaque for short.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t have six ears though?” Xiaoxia remarked. Macaque rolled his eyes and ignored him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You kids shouldn’t be wandering around at night if you don’t wanna get eaten by demons. Where are your parents?” He couldn’t have other demons getting to these little treasure troves before he could figure out how to open them, after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At once, though, both the human boys looked down, a tense silence enveloping the alley.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque raised an eyebrow, “Oh? Did you two run away from home?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaotian looked up, obviously panicking, “N-no! We just, uh- !”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The monkey hummed in thought, this seemed to be working out in his favour. With a grunt he stood back up, silencing the human’s feeble attempts at lying his way out of a perceived threat, and turned to walk out of the alley.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on, I’ve somewhere you can stay the night.” he called out behind him, not looking back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a few tense seconds, he heard the sound of small footsteps following him to the abandoned little training hall he’d taken up residence in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unseen by the boys, Macaque’s lips curled upwards in a cruel smirk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t care how they’d gotten it, but he’d get Sun Wukong’s power out of these kids one way or another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And when he did, no one would be able to stop him.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Golden Sight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Xiaotian woke up, his body was one big ache. He wanted to stretch his limbs, but the arms around his body kind of immobilized him.</p><p>Not that he’d have it any other way.</p><p>He blinked a bit to clear his vision, eyes focusing in on his mirror image, still dead to the world. A small smile graced his lips and his own embrace tightened slightly.</p><p>He was so glad to have Xiaoxia.</p><p>The other boy stirred and blearily peered up at him.</p><p>“Your breath stinks.”</p><p>Xiaotian shoved his face into the floor.</p><p>Five minutes later, Macaque found them trying to wrestle each other down, probably adding to the aches they’d already accumulated from sleeping on the floor. Thankfully he’d already been awake. If they’d woken him up with this ruckus he’d have resorted to more violent measures than swatting at them with a rolled up newspaper like misbehaving cats.</p><p>He sighed in aggravation, looking down at the now kneeling twins, matching pouts on their faces. It had been a week now since he’d first welcomed the tiny humans into his temporary ramshackle home, and he was beginning to have serious regrets.</p><p>Their first night here, Macaque had crafted a nifty little seal and placed it on them as they slept. It was meant to slowly siphon their power as they used it, until they were weakened enough that he could simply take the rest by force. Cleverly, it didn’t really require any additional input from him until it was full, so he’d happily released them into the world the next morning. Not like they could get eaten by demons anyway.</p><p>It would have been the perfect, easiest plan for a lovely little powerup, except for two things.</p><p>Firstly, that evening, the brats had returned. They were obviously hesitant, not sure if they’d be welcomed into his abode for a second night. He could’ve easily shut the door in their faces. Had wanted to, even. He wasn’t running a childcare center here.</p><p>He still wasn’t sure why he’d let them in.</p><p>Still, he’d established his rules. No loud noises in the building, no bothering him, no bringing anyone, no stealing from him, and if they wanted his food they’d have to work for it.</p><p>With much grumbling, the two of them had gotten to work on all manner of chores in the mornings and were shooed away around noon with whatever lunch he’d procured. He needed some time to himself after all. And the building was looking a lot less like a long abandoned haunted house, which was a nice bonus.</p><p>Secondly, Xiaotian and Xiaoxia never used their power. He wasn’t even sure they even <em> knew </em> they had it. They could jump higher and run faster and lift more than any human, and yet they seemed completely oblivious to the gift they held within them. With the miniscule amount they used up by sheer virtue of existing, he’d be lucky if the seal filled up some time in the next millennium.</p><p>He didn’t particularly relish the thought of spending that much time this close to Wukong’s territory.</p><p>Of course, he could always kidnap them, but there was no guarantee the Monkey King wouldn’t notice them gone, whatever his connection to them even <em> was </em> . Plus, even if he got away with it, he wasn’t <em> that </em> patient.</p><p>He wasn’t even sure <em> why </em> they existed, human vessels of the Monkey King’s power. <em> And why were there two of them??? </em></p><p>He had to proceed carefully here. Subtly take their strength without tripping any potential alarms.</p><p>So how could he get a pair of unbreakable human brats to utilize their (presumably) staff-given power?</p><p>He looked out the window, into the forest that surrounded the city.</p><p>Slowly, his lips formed a smile.</p><p>It was not a nice smile.</p><p>0 0 0</p><p>The next morning, Xiaotian did not wake up on a hard wooden floor.</p><p>He shot up in alarm, looking around as he absently shook his twin awake. “Xiaoxiaaaaaa, you gotta wake uuuuup.” he said, voice strained with raising panic.</p><p>“Mrn, nooooooooo.” Xiaoxia mumbled grumpily.</p><p>His brother shook him more vehemently, “I’m serious, wake up!”</p><p>“Urgh, <em> what </em>.” he grumbled as he rose before noticing their surroundings. Trees, grass, soil, bushes, and not a hint of civilization in sight. “Oh.”</p><p>Oh no.</p><p>Xiaotian took the lead as they moved to explore the forest. The trees were enormous and there were all kinds of animals scurrying around. They would’ve probably found it all immensely cool under any other circumstances.</p><p>Now however, the canopy loomed ominously and every rustle of the leaves made them jump. The  trees seemed to grow taller and darker as they walked, although he knew that was impossible.</p><p>The oppressive silence between them was broken when Xiaoxia gave voice to the elephant in the room, “...do you think Macaque dumped us here?”</p><p>Xiaotian gave his brother a pained look before turning forward again. They walked on for a bit before he finally replied, “Who knows. Maybe he got tired of us too.”</p><p>“...we shouldn’t have gone back.”</p><p>“He seemed nice.”</p><p>“Yeah, and now we’re in the middle of nowhere!”</p><p>Xiaotian flinched, hunching in on himself, “Come on, we need to get back to the city.” he muttered.</p><p>Xiaoxia stared at him for a moment before he jogged to catch up, grabbing the other boy’s arm, “Look, I’m sorry, I just…” He trailed off, not knowing where he was going with this.</p><p>His brother took his hand in his own and offered him a small smile, “We have each other, at least.”</p><p>Xiaoxia stared, before he smiled back, “Yeah. You know, I think-”</p><p>Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a loud rustle of leaves to their left. They froze, hearts beating hard in their chests as the noise grew closer. Then it stopped.</p><p>A low growl cut through the silence.</p><p>Next thing he knew, Xiaotian was being borderline dragged by the wrist as Xiaoxia ran in the opposite direction.</p><p>“Bro, wait-!” Xiaotian stumbled and tried to keep up, his twin wouldn’t listen, could only focus on <em> running, get away, one foot in front of the other, must keep Xiaotian safe- </em></p><p>He didn’t see the cliff coming.</p><p>For a moment they felt weightless, one step away from flying.</p><p>Then it was <em> cold </em> and <em>  wild </em> and <em> where was he where was his m- </em></p><p>A hand grabbed his arm and pulled him, letting him break the surface of the turbulent river and gasp for air.</p><p>“X-Xiaotian!” he coughed out.</p><p>“I’m here!”</p><p>He could hear his voice, could feel the hand holding him, but the current threatened to pull him back down and he couldn’t think, couldn’t <em> see </em> through the panic.</p><p>The world turned to gold.</p><p>It was as if everything slowed down to snail’s pace, droplets of water falling millimeter by millimeter. He looked to his right, where his brother looked back at him with frantic, glowing eyes.</p><p>“Your eyes are glowing.” was the only thing he could utter in this situation.</p><p>Xiaotian snorted, the giggled, nervously holding holding on to a mossy rock that protuded from the frozen current, “Yours too.” he looked around in a mix of wonder and bafflement, “What’s going on?”</p><p>“I don’t know…” Xiaoxia muttered, equally confused, but before they could wrap their heads around it, the golden haze faded and they were back to trying not to drown. With clearer heads, however, they managed to slowly work their way to the riverside without inhaling too much water.</p><p>Lying on the damp sand, soaked to the bone, the two boys tried to catch their breath.</p><p>“...do you think the golden thingy has to do with…?” Xiaoxia trailed off, an insecure look on his face.</p><p>The other boy pressed his lips together, “M-maybe? It was pretty weird.”</p><p>Slowly, twin smiles rose to their faces, “...it was so cool though.”</p><p>“Totally!”</p><p>Their giggly mood lasted them another fifteen minutes. The rest of the way back to civilization took almost all day and was spent in moody grumbling as they trudged along the riverside.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. An Uneasy Return</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“We shouldn’t go back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t really have anywhere else. Sleeping in an alley wasn’t fun.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Probably safer…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Xiaoxia, we got attacked after one night.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy in question grumbled under his breath, not having anything to counter that. Despite his words, however, his brother simply stared at the door hesitantly.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span> “...do you think Macaque dumped us here?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He shook his head as if to shake off the memory, and lifted a hand towards the door. Before he could touch it though, it was opened without his input. The two of them stared up at the monkey demon, who was giving them a rather unimpressed look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You skip chores and then you come right back when the sun sets, huh?” Macaque snarked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaoxia hissed and moved to stand protectively in front of his twin, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Chores?!</span>
  </em>
  <span> You dumped us in the woods!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque simply raised an eyebrow, “Why the fuck would I do that? I haven’t even seen you two since last night.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaotian blinked, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder to keep him from doing something potentially stupid. “...you haven’t?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The demon shook his head, slumping to lean on the doorway, “I thought you’d finally wised up and run off to an orphanage or something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaoxia squinted in suspicion but the hand on his shoulder kept him in place as the other boy talked, “But how did we get to the forest, then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque shrugged, turning around to walk back into the building, door left pointedly open, “Beats me. Maybe you two figured out how to sleepwalk in tandem or some other mystical twin bullshit.” he offered carelessly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two kids stood frozen in the doorway, unsure of what to do. They didn’t exactly trust Macaque at this point, but he claimed he wasn’t the culprit behind their misadventure of the day. It could be a lie, of course.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>…but it was starting to grow colder, and the clouds overhead were dark with the promise of imminent rainfall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Biting his lip, Xiaotian grabbed his brother’s hand and followed the monkey back into the building, closing the door behind them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque took one look at them and snorted, heading for the kitchen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You two look like you tried to fight the whole forest. You know where the bathroom is. Wash up and change, I don’t want you trekking any more mud in here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They looked down at themselves and grimaced at the dirt, leaves and scrapes that covered their bodies, acquiescing without too much fuss.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>0 0 0</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boys were rather grateful they’d been given the lower floor’s bathroom to clean not two days prior. It had been beyond disgusting at the time, but now their hard work paid off with clean tiles they could walk on without fearing for their continued health. They’d also managed to find some rather oversized black shorts and white t-shirts with the training hall’s faded logo in a closet close to the showers, a bit dusty but nothing they couldn’t handle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two of them hesitantly trudged into the kitchen, stepping over their previous trail of dirt and plant matter. They did not expect to see Macaque sitting at the table, drinking tea. Beside him was the teapot, along with two cups, a single plate with six steaming wontons between them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whatever reservations they may have had immediately disappeared at the prospect of food, however little it may be, and the twins practically ran over to sit at the table. They took half a second to look at Macaque’s indifferent expression before stuffing their faces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once the two of them had finished absolutely demolishing the snacks, they noticed that their cups were empty. Xiaotian sent the demon another glace before slowly reaching for the teapot, grasping the handle when he was met with no reprimand. However, the pot was heavy and his seat was low, making it difficult to angle it properly without spilling all over the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before disaster could strike, he heard an exasperated sigh as the pot was taken from his grasp by a pair of bigger, clawed hands. They sat in silence as the tea was poured into their cups and drank in silence as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>While Xiaotian preferred to look into his cup, hoping the quiet would stretch for longer, Xiaoxia glared distrustfully at the monkey, who was still enjoying his tea without a care in the world.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The silence stretched on until Macaque finally finished his cup, setting it down on the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, what the hell happened to you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hesitantly at first, but slowly gaining confidence, Xiaotian regaled him with the story of their rather eventful morning, although he paused at that moment in the river, when time had frozen for a moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Golden?” Macaque repeated, raising an eyebrow, and Xiaotian nodded vigorously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, do you know what that was?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The primate made a show of thinking it over, “Not something normal humans can do, that’s for sure.” he looked them over, as if trying to find something he’d previously missed, “Maybe you two are half demon or something. Unless you somehow got magic powers in the last month.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaotian and Xiaoxia blinked at each other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you think-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You did say-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And it’s kinda like-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And where you-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque’s eye twitched and he pointedly cleared his throat, “Care to enlighten me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boys yelped, looking like twin deers in headlights. They’d somehow forgotten all about their audience. They exchanged an uneasy look before Xiaoxia spoke up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A while ago, Xiaotian found this hill underground.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy in question nodded, “Yeah, there was this red and gold pole or something and everything got really bright when I touched it!” he scratched at his cheek, “I don’t really remember much after that, but that’s when I found Xiaoxia.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was Macaque’s turn to blink in befuddlement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...you </span>
  <em>
    <span>found</span>
  </em>
  <span> your twin brother?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaotian beamed, “Yeah! He’s the best! And we’re gonna be together forever!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaoxia smiled and squeezed his brother’s arm. “You can’t get rid of me, after all!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque sighed and decided to put aside that particular can of worms for the moment, he had other priorities “Well, if you two did gain some sort of power then, you probably awakened some part of it in the river.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaotian gasped, eyes shining in excitement, “Do you think we can freeze time?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’d be so cool!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They turned to look at him expectantly and he raised an eyebrow, resting his elbow on the table, cheek on his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll only know if you manage to do it again.” he drawled in apparent disinterest before standing up, “Well! It’s late. You guys can clean up the kitchen and your little mud trail tomorrow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he left the kitchen, eyes narrowed and lips curved upwards, the brothers shared a long look, then grinned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Needless to say, neither of them got much sleep that night.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Patient Predator</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Macaque had never thought of himself as a patient person.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Regardless, watching the brats try and figure out their “super cool superpowers” by themselves was a tad more entertaining than he’d expected. He was pretty sure they were going to need glasses if they continued to strain their eyes like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had stopped throwing them out after noon, so more often than not, the boys could be found making utter fools of themselves in the courtyard behind the building. Not that they cared, or even realized this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, he could always meddle to speed things up-</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No, Macaque. Let them come to you. You are in control, there’s no need to act preemptively.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The monkey released a barely perceptible, irritated sigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was after the kids got the </span>
  <em>
    <span>brilliant</span>
  </em>
  <span> idea of running towards each other headfirst, and subsequently found themselves groaning in pain on the ground, that he deigned to make his presence known.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, uh,” he snorted, gesturing vaguely towards them, “this working out for you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xioaxia’s groan became deeper and more disapproving, in accordance to his general attitude towards Macaque these last few days, since the forest. He rolled his body so his back was facing the demon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Real mature, kid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaotian, on the other hand, sat up, still clutching his head. “Ow. Not really. We’ve tried all kinds of things. I’m starting to think we just hallucinated the whole thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaoxia released a despairing, melodramatic wail at that prospect, still curled up on the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque hummed, “Well, just don’t get too loud. I’m trying to meditate.” That was a filthy, filthy lie, but they didn’t need to know that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry.” the only communicative human at this time grumbled under his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turned to leave them to their aimless buffoonery when an unexpected voice stopped him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait!” he looked back inquisitively to see Xiaoxia sat up and staring right at him with a look of dawning comprehension. “...you’re a demon, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque raised an eyebrow, smirking mischievously, “Oh no, can’t you tell? I’m totally human. The tail is a medical condition.” he drawled, sarcasm dripping from every word like poison on his tongue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaoxia rolled his eyes but ignored the obvious bait, “Does that means you have, like… powers? Magic?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A thoughtful hum, “Of a sort.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did you learn to use them?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ohhhh, they were getting somewhere at last. Look at the clever little rat, finally using his brain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite his thoughts, though, he shrugged nonchalantly, “Some of them I was just born with. It’s instinctual.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaotian, who looked like he’d finally figured out where this was going, grinned at him expectantly, “And the others?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...I don’t think you’ll like the answer to that one, brat.” Because neither did he. Ugh, this was going to take sooooo </span>
  <em>
    <span>loooong</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pleeeeaaase?” Xiaotian pouted, eyes gaining a teary shine to them. If that wasn’t a perfected puppy eyes look Macaque would eat his sash. Too bad he didn’t really give enough of a fuck about these two to fall for it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not that he wouldn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>pretend</span>
  </em>
  <span> to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sighed, as if giving in, “Discipline and training, mostly. Discipline and fortitude gained in one area can be used to tackle another.” he squinted at them, “...can you even feel chi?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uhhhhhhhhhhhh…” Xiaotian shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another sigh, “Well, have fun, you two. You’re gonna be at it for a while.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he once again made to turn back inside, he was also yet again interrupted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, Macaque?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ah, this feeling of sinking his claws into his prey.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He smirked, a cruel curl of his lips, head turned away and face unseen.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It never got old.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He cleared his expression and  directed his gaze to the humans, both of whom shared a look. Xiaoxia looked away and crossed his arms grumpily while Xiatian fidgeted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Could you, um… teach us? A bit?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His answering smile was calculatingly soft, but his eyes danced with infernal glee.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm, if you’re up for it, sure. I won’t go easy on you, though.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>a short one for today. exams are killing me TwT</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Flourishing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Macaque had dangled a pair of staffs in front of the brats for about thirty seconds before putting them away with a thin smile, a smile the two humans would eventually come to fear. What followed were days upon days of footwork and balance exercises, intersped with stretches and brief periods of meditation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Or, well, </span>
  <em>
    <span>attempted</span>
  </em>
  <span> meditation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is </span>
  <em>
    <span>boring</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Xiaoxia groused, and his brother couldn’t help but agree.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque opened a single eye to convey his utter disdain at this childish display, closing it again once he deemed the message well and truly delivered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can always leave, you know. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re</span>
  </em>
  <span> the ones that asked me to teach you.” he drawled out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a bitter truth to swallow for Xiaoxia, but one he had to admit to. It had been his idea in the first place. Xiaotian however had no qualms about questioning their supposed teacher regardless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We wanted to learn about our powers, though! Not- whatever this is!” the boy pouted, gesturing at their general surroundings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told you already, you need discipline and fortitude, both of which you can obtain through this kind of training. Plus learning any sort of martial art is never a bad thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both boys opened their mouths to argue, but couldn’t find a single argument against that, so instead they reluctantly resumed their previous attempts at meditation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque had to admit, if only to himself, that he hadn’t meditated this much in centuries, possibly a millennium or two. Or ever even thought of bringing such formality into his forms, so that they could be taught. If nothing else, it was doing a great job of extending his patience, which he desperately needed if he was to keep this up for any extended period of time. And hopefully, once they got into the swing of it, it’d help to mellow out their tempers as well. Gods knew he could only take so much lip from a pair of pre-pubescent humans, no matter how divinely blessed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d never rigidly stuck to a particular style, preferring to mix and match whatever he picked up along his travels. This however, made for a decidedly difficult style to teach, as it was inconsistent and generally lacking in uniformity. He hadn’t expected this much work when he’d thought up this half-baked plan after plan A didn’t quite work out and he was perhaps starting to regret the whole ordeal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d always wanted Sun Wukong’s power, but was it worth </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque’s eyebrow twitched at yet another long-suffering groan from his supposed students and he stood up in one graceful movement, startling the boys out of their reverie.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you have the energy to complain,” his eyes narrowed and the Qi brothers felt a chill run down their spines, “then I obviously haven’t been working you hard enough.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He retrieved the wooden staffs and finally handed them off, keeping a third to himself to demonstrate the arm movement that would go with the first move of the footwork they’d been learning. The boys imitated him clumsily. He had them repeat it ceaselessly until it was perfect.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually they felt as if their arms would fall off and their legs would fail them, and yet Macaque urged them on, circling them like a particularly vicious predator.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If nothing else, it was nice to have an excuse to make them suffer without endangering his plans. Cathartic even.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaotian and Xiaoxia quickly learned to appreciate meditation, if only because it was restful.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>0 0 0</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before they knew it, weeks passed in this manner, all three of them slowly growing comfortable with the routine. Macaque couldn’t quite remember the last time he had stayed in one place and interacted with the same people for so long. At least not as himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was strangely soothing, as much as the brats aggravated him, and that was just plain </span>
  <em>
    <span>bizarre</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Even Xiaoxia had brought down his antagonistic attitude from a boil to a simmer. And Xiaotian seemed to thrive with his teachings, always a smile and a pleased flush whenever Macaque would hand out one of his sparse encouragements.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were doing well in their training, picking it up faster than he’d expected. But in hindsight it shouldn’t have been surprising, seeing as they barely did anything but clean and train these days.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It came to a point where Macaque had decided to kick them out again two times a week, if only so he could have some time to himself. Not once did he acknowledge that the fact that their previous pace could lead the brats to mental and physical fatigue had in any way weighed in on this decision.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And what if it did? He may have been in a hurry, but he could hardly extract any power from broken vessels.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Regular sparring had become part of this routine as well, usually against each other, but every now and then Macaque would challenge them to land a single hit on him, just for the pleasure of seeing them trip over each other to fail.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This particular spar, he decided mid-bout that perhaps it was time he started retaliating.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaotian gave a yelp as he narrowly dodged the loose swing of Macaque’s practice staff (his true weapon was mayhaps just a bit too deadly at this time). Xiaoxia didn’t take kindly to his sudden switch to offense and threw himself at Macaque. But Xiaotian was right back in the fray, swinging sharply and almost skillfully, with something like a grin on his face. For a child, he wasn’t half bad, and he seemed to be past frustration, enjoying himself in motion. Macaque had to suppress an approving hum.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>While Xiaotian seemed to flourish under his meagre teachings, Xiaoxia wasn’t quite at the same level, often forgetting the proper hold or swinging in awkward angles. It was one such moment that Macaque exploited mercilessly, batting away the boy’s weak defense.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unstable,” he chastised, perhaps a tad more sharply than he’d intended but oh well, they had thick skin, “Can’t you even hold a stick properly?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaoxia’s scowl deepened, teeth gritting even as Macaque swiftly redirected Xiaotian’s swing at his back into his own midsection, leaving the boy wheezing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiaoxia tensed, gaze growing hostile, something that was easier for Macaque to understand, and to manage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Am I wasting my time with you, brat?” the monkey spat, just to drive it in more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With something like a snarl, if a kitten could snarl, the human charged at Macaque, swinging his staff almost wildly, although he did try to avoid stepping on his slumped, panting brother.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Macaque smirked mockingly, and something inside Xiaoxia seemed to snap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“AaaaahhhHHHHHHHHH!” he yelled out, swinging with all his strength. Macaque blocked with his own staff and-</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Crack.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy froze, staring at the two broken halves of his staff, one grasped in each hand. His teacher, however, didn’t leave him much time for ruminating and was on him immediately. Xiaoxia struggled to defend without the solid length of his whole weapon, but found himself rapidly adapting, moving into a crossguard and attacking with both hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alas, he was still unused to the situation, and saw the blow coming too late to stop or evade it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Between one blink and another, Xiaotian was there, struggling under the weight of the monkey’s staff even as it was held visibly loosely in his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A show of effortless power.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In a move too fast for either of them to see, it let up on Xiaotian and instead slid down to sweep their feet from under them, landing them in a painful heap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well would you look at that,” Xiaotian could </span>
  <em>
    <span>hear</span>
  </em>
  <span> the smirk in Macaque’s voice, even if his own face was currently pressed up against the cool, merciful floor, “You finally managed to access some of that divine speed! And strength too!” he hummed, and Xiaoxia could barely see the demon sizing him up thoughtfully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait,” Xiaotian startled, sitting up and digging an elbow into his brother’s gut before quickly removing it, “We did?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other boy blinked, trying to process the words, and the both of them simultaneously whipped their heads around to stare at Macaque, who was looking at them with something akin to a smile, a shine in his eyes that </span>
  <em>
    <span>almost, vaguely </span>
  </em>
  <span> resembled something like pride.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You did.” The monkey said simply, unable to wipe the smile off his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a second of silence, the boys started cheering and Macaque huffed in amusement. Well, at least they were getting somewhere.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>On the backs of both humans, two identical seals began filling up the slightest bit.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>help ive become a wukong simp</p><p>also Qi Xiaoxia is 齐小侠<br/>not as clever as Qi Xiaotian but good enough</p></blockquote></div></div>
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